take these sunken eyes and learn to see
by shiksa goddess
Summary: "you don't have to believe in love, but allyson, i promise I'll make you believe in me"/auslly, in fragments.


**Title: take these sunken eyes and learn to see  
>InspirationPlaylist: Blackbird- The Beatles, Iris- Goo Goo Dolls, Just Say Yes- Snow Patrol, Lift Me Up-The Afters, Starlight- Taylor Swift  
>Disclaimer: I own nothing.<strong> **Lowercase for stylistic purposes. Somewhat AU and maybe a bit OOC.**

for years, there was _austin moon_and there was _ally dawson._

ally dawson thought it was supposed to be that way, that she should be independent, career-oriented, and uncommitted her whole life.

austin moon knew it wasn't so.

/

allyson marie dawson was born on a drizzly sunday in february. it was beautiful and she was beautiful and mommy&daddy were _sosohappy_ and it was _sosoperfect._

they thought.

a year later, mommy leaves with nothing but an old leather suitcase full of clothes and old photographs, a one-way ticket to some unknown destination. she explains to lester that she "just can't take it anymore". she kisses her daughter on the head.

"i love you, babygirl. don't forget that." tears roll down her face and lester's face( the love of his life is leaving and he doesn't know how to stop it) and even ally starts crying because everyone else is and she's so confused.

now she _swears_ she can remember having the thought "if mommy loves me, why would she leave us?"

her mom leaves with a bang of door and wave of hand.

/

austin monica moon was born on a hot Floridian sunday in october. his mom is feverish but happy nonetheless, and his dad is beaming.

"a son! two daughters and we've finally got a moon son!"

but they were _normal_. so normal and unexciting, austin wound up questioning if he was born into the wrong family. and they were always busy. mommy worked, daddy worked, twelve-year-old carmen was always at cheerleading or ballet , and ten-year-old jessica was shut up in her room ninety percent of her life.

his room was filled with things to bang on-no wonder his first instrument was the drums. he listens to the tv all day-left on MTV thanks to carmen- and music quickly becomes a passion of his. he decides he wants his whole life to involve music by the time he's three.

he just wishes mommy and daddy could come home to see it.

/

lester quits his law firm soon after penny leaves, leaving it in the hands of a long-awaiting attorney. he invests a percentage of his stocks in a run-down building in the middle of the Miami mall, fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning a music store.

the sonic boom soon becomes more of a home to a toddler ally than the house is. sonic boom is where daddy's happy and then she's happy too. the Beatles course through her veins and her first word is "blackbird"

he thanks his lucky stars it's not "mama". he doesn't think he could manage that.

she's going to be a musician, he can tell. her mother hated most music with a passion, so he knew she got it from him.

but she had those matching doe-brown eyes and silky curls, enough to murder him quietly.

/

flashes of colors and clips of electronic sounds consume his two-year-old brain. the stylings of NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Destiny's Child fill his brain and he remembers them almost as well as his name. which he's pretty sure is "ausin".

he knows(before he really knows) he's going to be a pop prince one day.

he wonders who'll be his princess.

carmen pushes her toddler brother from the first couch cushion and turns the tv to disney channel.

hilary duff comes on the screen. maybe _she_ can be his princess.

/

she's good with words. she's good with music. why wouldn't she be a good songwriter?

she tinkers on the old piano her dad kept in the upstairs of the store, even though she can't properly play yet.

he tries his best to do this little girl right. he buys her things most three-year-old girls want, plush animals, coloring books, dress-up clothes.

she wants a Walkman and cassettes. _of course_, he thinks sarcastically. he buys it anyways, and he buys CD's to play in the little boombox. she's taken a liking to the Beatles and John Lennon, and all these goddamn love songs_._the lyrics course through his head in annoying repetition, but she can't stop hitting replay.

"no, ally. stop listening to this junk." he pops the CD out of the machine.

she looks up at him. not the eyes again, innocent, the color of cinnamon. she's _not_ a miniature penny. she's not. (she just looks exactly like her.)

"why, daddy?"

he turns back to the cd. "because, this love, the love in these songs, true love? it doesn't exist."

he walks away, CD in hand. she doesn't want to believe him. but she does.

/

his mom&dad put him in a youth theatre when he's only four. he's small, and the stage is big, but every time he steps on it, he feels like he belongs.

he lands the role of a lost boy in the production of _Peter Pan_. he doesn't have any individual lines, but he loves this and it loves him, and goddamnit he's _born_ to perform.

he hears the applause erupting from the audience at the end, and he pretends it's all for him.

he looks for mommy and daddy. daddy's not there, mommy's on a phone call with someone more important than her only son, and carmen hits her hands together once unenthusiastically.

austin doesn't mind. he'll be back here again, and someday, they'll _all_ be calling his name.

/

she pens _the Butterfly Song_ in about three minutes while tilly sings her ladybug song.

ally claps her hands politely, and nudges trish to do the same. trish drops her juice box on her hall monitor sash.

trish glares at ally but claps her hands anyways.

"sorry, but there's no eating in the classroom anyways!" ally whines obnoxiously.

tilly walks back to her seat, looking pleased at herself.

"did anyone _else_have a song for the pageant?" mrs. carmichael says, almost begging.

ally raises her hand quietly. "i do!" she runs to the piano in the corner that mrs. carmicheal uses for music & rhythm time. she can't climb up by herself yet, so her teacher helps.

she settles herself and remembers the rhythmic pattern trick her father taught her for making up a song.

_i'm a little butterfly, spread my colorful wings, even though i'm small and frail, i can do most anything!_"

the class cheers for her, and she realizes this is what she wants to do with her life. not necessarily performing, but writing. writing songs.

and so it begins.

/

he's had to leave the theater company, the single most important thing to him. his parents just got busier- mommy got that job with the important man, now she's in atlanta every other weekend.- and only one kid could keep an activity.

fifteen-year-old carmen yelled and screamed about how she just _could not_ give up ballet, those were her dreams and why are you ruining my life?

carmen kept her stupid dance class. jessica and austin were condemned to silence. jessica didn't care much, but austin felt his first heartbreak.

salvation came when the kindergarten class was having a production of _red riding hood_.

no boy wanted to be the wolf. the wolf had to _sing_. all the other boys wanted to do was play pokemon cards. not perform.

austin got the role easily. he loved this. he loved the power. he loved being on stage, the spotlight solely on him and annie pate, who was red riding hood.

no one showed up this time from his family, but other people were clapping for him and squealing "omigod how cute is he!". adrenaline coursed through his veins and he almost didn't care that he'd have to walk home with jessica after this.

/

ten-year-old ally was an undiscovered prodigy. she had her heart as high as the ceiling, and more songs then she had friends.

which wasn't really a feat, considering her friend count was up to about one. trish.

she didn't know what to do with all these songs. it was her only outlet for creativity. the other times, she had to be straightforward and boring to keep everything around her upright.

her father was constantly falling apart. she had to hold up a fort, even if that meant holding back her tears every time he mentioned that he thought music was a trap business to be in.

she was told to focus on her studies, get her nose out of her songbook, try some more _scintillating_ extracurriculars.

her only flaw was not being able to write a love song. in 2006, _everyone_who was anyone had a love song topping the charts. ally sighed as she remebered her song titles: "_cold-hearted" "forget-me-not" "the day it died"._

she threw every attempt of a love song into the rusted garbage tin.

she wanted to believe in love. she knew it was real, somewhere down beneath her armored heart, that someone could come and they could love each other endlessly.

but she needed proof. she needed a prince, like in those cheesy princess movies she attempted to collect information from.

with the window open, ally stuck her head out and sang a sweet melody into the open air of the miami mall.

it couldn't hurt to try.

/

he enters the school talent show with himself and a guitar. he chooses the song _hey there delilah_ and everybody _loveloveloves_it. as usual, his parents aren't there. his sisters are at college now, and there's no one there for him. but that's okay. it's always okay.

the audience applauds and a pretty brunette girl screams "whoo! austin!"

she's performing next. he smiles at her, and everyone else, and it feels so good to hear the sound of a crowd cheering for him, adrenaline rushing through his ears.

he walks off the stage for the next performer. the girl-allyson, he thinks her name is- steps onto the stage. a piano is wheeled onstage for her, and she smiles. he doesn't know her, barely even knows her name, but he can tell she loves music, just like him.

she smooths her floral skirt and sits down. a long intro begins, and he thinks she's a great pianist. it's probably an original song, as he's never heard anything like it before.

"hey, _ally_" skylar, a popular girl in fifth grade taunts. the piano playing continues, but a little off-key.

"_ally! are you listening?_ you suck, you can't sing worth crap, you ugly little nerd." ally looks down at her floral skirt and opens her mouth to sing the first line.

_"slow down, you crazy child, you're so ambi-"_ her voice cracks but she perseveres on until skylar hollers out her next insult, though teachers were standing next to her to prevent her heckling.

"ally! can you hear me, you little slug. you think you're cool because you have your nose in a notebook all the time, but guess what? you're so untalented, it's no wonder your mother left you."

ally struck a minor chord and stood up. "you don't know me!" she ran off the stage in obvious tears, and teachers led skylar out of the auditorium towards a main office.

no one really seemed to notice-or care- where ally went, so austin chased after her. she stood in a corner, quietly crying, hidden behind a bush.

"hey, um, i'm austin. i just wanted to say i thought you were really good. well, the one line i heard. did you write that song?"

ally nods. she wants to say something like "thanks" or "you were good, too" but she can't seem to string together a phrase yet.

the blonde boy smiles at her. "that's amazing. and, just to let you know, i think skylar is an absolute bitch."

she opens her mouth to tell him not to curse, but he's the only one who cared to find her, and when she opens her mouth, all that comes out is a sob.

he wraps her arms around the sobbing girl, and she clutches the virtual stranger's shirt.

"my parents aren't around either." he mentions quietly.

she throws her arms around him until she gathers the strength to stand. he walks her home at the end of the day, and learns about her, her father's business, and about how much she loves songwriting.

it's the last day of fifth grade,and they may or may not be at the same middle school, which, when they realize, kind of disappoints them both.

"i hope to see you soon, sometime, ally."

she grabs her arm. "oh, you too, austin. and, thanks. for helping me out back there." she smiles.

"no problem."

/

she never gets on stage again. she doesn't see austin again, either, and she can't help but be disappointed.

ally leans against her locker and watches as a herd of cheerleaders walks by. it's too much like a movie, she thinks, because cheerleaders aren't really all bitches and she really shouldn't have_ a_ friend. singular.

but maybe, if this _is_ a movie, then this isn't reality and she can come back soon.

"it's unhealthy" trish claims, "to live like this, longing for a boy you talked to _once,_ a year ago, and having me and your songbook as friends!"

ally slams the locker door. "oh, great, my best friend is a twelve-year-old Socrates."

this system, the social hierarchy, is easy to trish. she can navigate up and down as she pleased, and she was okay with this.

ally sighs."i'll make a friend, trish, i promise."

taylor atkins is just like her. an introverted musician. she's actually kinda proud of herself for discovering him at the back of her class with her.

they start writing songs together. she finds herself penning the first love song since forever. and though she's only twelve, she thinks maybe she's falling into it.

just maybe.

he kisses her delicately, and she wants to feel a spark. she doesn't, and brushes it off. maybe the whole thing was a wive's tale, with no liability.

at the end of seventh grade, her friend count is up to two, but at least it's an improvement. she's happy like this, until she finds her name on the miami intermediate prep talent show auditions list.

"what is this?"

taylor looks up briefly. "i signed us up for the talent show."

"i have stage fright! i cannot do this!"

he rests a hand on her shoulder. "it's just a school show, als, it's like five hundred people."

"who cares? i've told you numerous times i can't perform on a stage."

"fine! if you can't cooperate, maybe we should break up."

her heart stops, and tears well up in her eyes, but she's ally dawson, hiding is her specialty.

"fine then."

she storms out of the room.

he sings her goddamn love song, without her permission_. fucking thief_, trish remarks, putting a hand on ally's back. ally stands up in her auditorium seat.

"i shouldn't be here." she leaves without another word.

later that night, her stupid love songs are reduced to ashes. they never meant anything, anyways.

/

he wonders about her, sometimes. he wants to see her again, tell her she's beautiful and she's an amazing singer. rage fills his body. stupid boy, he thinks, having a crush on a girl who's forever away.

he supposes that when it comes to girls, he's not a very original guy. cheerleaders are pretty, what can he say?  
>lacey swimmer takes a liking to his blonde hair and bubblegum-pop voice, and he takes a liking to her in her uniform. later, he realizes that this was completely superficial, but he's thirteen and hormone driven, and when he kisses her repeatedly in the closet of the celebration hall jenny horowitz's bat mitzvah is held in, he really couldn't care less<p>

he hopes lacey doesn't hear the small "ally" that escapes his lips whenever they're kissing.

"do you think i'm beautiful?" he looks up, and blonde morphs into brunette, heavily shadowed blue orbs into tear-stained, bloodshot yet beautiful brown, and he almost says yes because his brain has distorted her image to make her look like ally.

"you're pretty."

she pulls a strand of hair out. "who's ally?"

"what is my favorite hobby?" he asks at the same time.

"basketball."

"a girl."

"singing," he corrects.

"why do you love her more than me?"

he sighs. "because ally is real."

lacey stands up and smiles. she squeezes his arm. "you should go get her."

it's the nicest thing she's ever said to him.

/

purely by coincidence, their middle schools filter into the same local high school, and all the freshmen newbies are simply trying to find familiar faces.

she sees him, and electricity pulses in the air.

"that's ally?" austin's redheaded friend scoffs in disbelief.

austin looks back at the girl, and he wants to smile, say hi, something, but he's _popular_ and austin moon cannot be seen around a nobody.

austin nods stiffly. "yeah. that's ally." they walk away, but his arm brushes against hers and she doesn't know if it's intentional or on accident.

the volts of electricity die.

"what was _that_ about?"

ally's not sure whether to be discouraged or flattered that she was spoken of to his best friend.

"i don't know. he's just… an old friend, i suppose."

she starts to wonder that night. how could you like someone since fifth grade, romantically or platonically, after interacting _once_?

school passes by, and every time it looks like he's about to say something or sit next to her, he walks away. her feelings deflated, she tries to forget about him.

_he's not worth it_, she tells herself. no boy was worth it anymore. so why'd she keep coming back to him?

"austin!" she exclaims one day, brave in her own right, and regrets her words as soon as they leave her mouth.

austin whirls around from his huddle of mildly-attractive popular guys. "i'm sorry, do i know you?" his voice is cocky, but his eyes are intent on her, knowing _exactly_ who she is.

"it's ally...ally dawson?"

"ooh-hoo, one night stand!" a stocky athlete in austin's clique hollers, even though they're fourteen and even the prospect of either one having sex is ridiculous.

austin and ally both blush. ally furrows her eyebrows. who was this? was this the real austin? had she been thinking the sweet, sensitive musician austin as real when this egomaniac jerk was the truth?

her eyes burn auburn with fury. "never mind. i'll see you later, austin."

she plays a riff on the piano. she was alone with her worn-out songbook in the band room of Ponce De Leon high, just the way she liked it.

she pens another lyric, wondering if any of this would matter, if she was wasting her time being so intent on songwriting..

they're sophomores now, but it still feels the same. austin keeps stealing quick glances at her, but he's just too cool to say a word.

the moment she stands up to go, a blonde walks in.

"whoever you think i am now, it's not me. i swear to god, ally dawson, i spent three years wishing i could to get to know you better and i've spent a year and a half screwing with my chances."

ally spun on her brown oxford heel. she wants to say "i knew you'd come around" or something equally as corny, but it's not what comes out of her mouth.

"no! you, mr. congeniality, cannot come in here after being so sweet to me as an eleven-year-old, not having any contact for three years, and virtually ignoring me for a year! you just can't do that to me!"

with that, he leaned in and kissed her, and she hated herself for kissing back.

the dismissal bell rang. she pulled away and smiled.

"i really, really hate you."

/

he makes the sonic boom a regular visit with his friend dez. hey, instruments and a pretty girl! it's a win-win!

she always reprimands them over eating in the store and messing with the instruments and actually just about everything they do, but he finds it kind of endearing.

"a woman with authority .i like," he jokes.

she shoves him playfully. "ha, well, good luck with that one."

she writes in a brown notebook constantly, and he _has_ to know what it is.

her arm brushes his as she retracts her book from his reach.

"it's my songbook. _don't touch it."_

"oh my god, that's right, you're a songwriter! I almost forgot! i wish i could write a song, i just can't, though. i've tried." the blonde picks up an acoustic Fender and plays a few riffs before she can protest.

_i need a song, it can't be too long, song song song,song song song song song song."_

ally stifled a laugh. "um, it has...potential. if you get rid of the last part."

the seemingly mute redheaded friend pipes up. " hey, I wrote that!"

ally gave him a thumbs up. "good on ya!" she remarked with false enthusiasm.

"so, austin, you wanna hear a _real_ song? maybe it'll spark some inspiration."

sneakers met stairs as she led him to her run-down storage and filing office as a practice room.

"_you don't know, know, know my name, name, name, gonna make, make, you do a double take."_

austin whistled. "wow. i feel ashamed. but, y'know, you could speed it up a bit."

he sang the line in a tune that was, admittedly, a good choice for the song.

the next time ally dawson heard that song was on a college radio station. and it wasn't her voice. it was austin's.

_"how could you fucking do this to me! that is my song!"_

tears fill her eyes, and he feels instantly ashamed.

"i'm sorry, ally. i just, i never wrote a song before-"

"so you think it's okay to steal mine?" she shrieks.

'no,no! it wasn't okay. but i can't tell the world it wasn't my song now, it'd ruin any reputation i have!"

"so you're not going to fix this?" she says in disbelief.

when he doesn't respond, she scoffs and walks out.

hot tears are streaming down her face, and she's ashamed because ally dawson doesn't cry.

"ally, wait!"

she spins on her heel. "you were the one who comforted me in fifth grade, but that must've been a sham because you are _just like_skylar and taylor."

"taylor? who's taylor? ally, wait!"

she leaves just like her mother, a bang of doors, a flurry of cacophonies.

except austin was going to get _his_ girl back.

/

"i hate milkshakes."

she takes the foam cup anyways and sucks the thick chocolate treat into her mouth.

subconsciously, he stares at her. she notices and narrows her big brown eyes.

"what?"

he smiles. "nothing. look, ally, i'm really sorry."

she looks up from her shake. "prove it."

he pulls up a video from his phone of his performance on _the helen show._

"hi, i'm austin moon, and this is an original song called _double take._it's written by a fantastic girl named ally dawson, to whom i'm really sorry, and i really wanna get to know her better. "

she's not a complete unromantic. a guy serenading her-even if it was with her stolen song- made her swoon.

he walks off the stage to thunderous applause, and dozens of girls call his name.  
>but here, in the middle of the diner, only one has his attention.<p>

she kisses him this time, and it feels right. it feels like the fireworks and butterflies and every cliche you're supposed to feel from a first kiss.

even though this is technically their second.

/

she loves this. she loves how the names _lacey_and _taylor_are forever forgotten, and _austin_and _ally_fit so well.

she is his and he is hers, and somewhere in the cosmos the universe aligned.

but she wouldn't depend on this. this feeling of ecstasy, or, or-_love_- wouldn't last.

someday she'd be alone, powerful in her career, and he'd be married to a cute, perky blonde, and they'd be forgotten to each other, nothing but a distant memory to smile at, their first love.

he tried to convince her otherwise.

"i love you, ally." he was an open book. he was a firm believer in miracles, magic, santa claus, and especially true love. and he was positive he'd found it in ally dawson.

"i'm too young to be in love." she claimed. she drew stick figures in the sand with her toe and let the waves lap them up.

he wrapped an arm around her, knowing what she really felt.

"don't be a downer."

"well, i'm not exactly an.. upper?"

he chuckles. "you mean optimist? and yes, i'm _very_ aware of your pessimism, miss-tears-of-your-heart-cry."

she shoved him closer to the edge of the water. "shut up. i was fifteen."

"and now you're sixteen. _so_ much more mature."

he picks her up, bridal-style, and wades deeper into the water.

"austin!" she shrieks. she flails.

"aww, are you scared?" he pretends to drop her, letting her go for a second, but catching her promptly.

"i hate you _so_ much right now, austin monica moon!"

"fine then!" he walks them deeper in and holds her to where he's standing up to his waist but she's half submerged underwater.

"austin! bring us up, you asshole!" ally shrieks, attempting to kick her boyfriend in the chest.

"say you love me and i'm much more talented than justin bieber!" he swings her out over the water.

"you're much more talented than justin bieber!"

"and...?"

she hesitates, then takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. "and i love you."

she mumbles.

"what?" he smiles, knowing exactly what she said.

"and i love you!" she says, her voice clogged with tears, her eyes brimming because she means it, and she needs him to believe it and she needs to know it's okay.

he kisses her gingerly, setting her down in the water.

"why was that so hard?"

ally sniffles. " true love doesn't exist. i'm not supposed to believe in it."

he snorts. "of course it does! we're, like, perfect examples of it!"

she shakes her head. "no. i love you, and you love me, for now. this is only temporary. a few years from now, this-we- won't exist. and no matter what you say, you won't make me believe in true love."

brown eyes meet brown, and he tucks a flyaway hair back in it's place behind her ear.

"you don't have to believe in true love yet, but god damn it allyson, i promise you i will make you believe in me."

/

she can write love songs flawlessly now, because she can feel it.

she's in love.

"_we were so different, but opposites attract_

_so my hope kept growing, and I never looked back,_

_you're one of a kind,_

_no one can change this heart or mind,oh!_

_it's funny you said we'd never make it,_

_and look how far we've come_

_you're a trainwreck,but with you_

_i'm in love."_

"that was great, als."

"oh, austin! hi." he had a way of sneaking up on her.

"i love you." he likes to say it everyday now, just to watch her react.

"i love you,too." sometimes, she still chokes.

but sometimes, it flows out her mouth like the words of a love song.

/

"he really does love you, you know."

trish turns on the dorm light and ally is blinded by the first light she's seen in days.

she pulls the covers off ally's head, covered in matted, coffee-brown hair.

ally groans.

"ally, we've been at UC Berkely for all of three days. just because austin's at NYU doesn't mean you can spend your whole college life holed up in your bed!"

"and why not? he was supposed to come here! he was going to give up New York to be here with me!"

"how is that fair, ally, to be mad at austin for trying to get on with his life and dreams. i think we'd all be a hell of a lot happier if you'd get on with yours." trish reasons.

ally hates to admit that her best friend has a point, but she whines anyways, feeling sorry for herself .  
>" you just don't understand what it's like to have your boyfriend two thousand miles away! dez is here! dez is literally a hallway away!"<p>

trish shakes her head. "you don't think i miss austin? you don't think dez does? we're doing something about it though. you can still send him your songs or something, it's only going to be four years."

ally curls onto her side in a fetal position. "yeah. only four years." she whispers.

_ally,_

_i miss you. i love you._

_of course i've been texting & calling you, but i know you love the written word, so i figured i'd write you a real letter._

_you'd be surprised at how cutthroat this place is. suddenly, i'm not the best. there's people that are better, and then there's people who'll do literally anything to be better._

_girls keep slobbering over me. i know you're gonna hate to read that, but trust me, i find salivation highly distasteful._

_ooh, look, I'm using big words now. see what you're doing to me, alls?_

_i love you. don't forget that. and i expect piles of songs when we all go back to miami for winter vacation._

_i'm coming back ally, don't worry. new york doesn't change you that much._

_say hey to trish & dez for me._

_love, austin._

she looks at the letter at least seven times a day, its crinkled edges wet and frayed from the tears she'd shed onto it.

"austin moon, why the hell did i fall in love with someone like you, and why am i incapable of ever finding someone new?"

"that would make a great song lyric."

she looks up, but the sunlight on the quad blinds her. she's able to make out a blonde, denim and hoodied figure.

"austin!"

fingers lace into hair as their lips meet.

" i missed you."

"i missed you more, "he smiles.

"what changed your mind?" she wonders.

"well, i realized that i wasn't living a dream- at least a good one- without the people i care about,"

"especially my girl."

when he says it, her mocha eyes light up, and she nuzzles her head into his neck.

/

trish laces up her corset and buttons her vintage white dress. it was her mom's, one of the only things she still had left of penny.

"wow. you're stunning." trish whistles. her own wedding is in a few months, and it's just so fitting. dez&trish, austin&ally.

right now, ally is covered in layers of satin and tulle, makeup and hairspray, and it's true, she looks flawless, but she really just loves knowing that the man waiting for her at the altar wouldn't care if it all went away.

thousands of people want an invite to the legendary pop star and the prestigious songwriter's wedding, but only a select few get one. there are no cameras in sight.

lester walks in. "are you ready?" he smiles. she's twenty five and getting married, but he still sees the little girl who listened to the beatles constantly.

and he still sees penny.

except in this girl, he sees genuine happiness, and he sees purity, and love.

as his only child slips her arm through his tuxedo-covered arm, he realizes that there's something he'd been wrong about something all these years.

"hey, ally?"

the door opens and music starts, and ally's bridesmaids go out to make their way down the aisle.

"i was wrong. love does exist. true love. forever love. it can be the best thing you possess, if you find the right person to love."

ally opens her mouth to say something in return, but he cuts her off.

"but i have a feeling you already know that."

it's the last word that can be said until ally has to make her entrance. the organist speeds up and all eyes are on the bride.

but her eyes are on him. the smile across his face is stretched wide from ear to ear.  
>when she reaches the altar, she mouths to him "i love you, austin, forever and for always."<p>

his brown eyes shine brightly as he turns to her. "i know."

/

.fin.

**A/N I don't know how to feel about this.  
>Actually… I like this. A lot.<br>Yeah.  
>Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!<br>(:Tessa**


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